Robert James "Bob" Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter and rapper with five Grammy Award nominations. Kid Rock released several studio albums that mostly went unnoticed before his 1998 record Devil Without a Cause, released with Atlantic Records, sold 11 million albums behind the hits, "Bawitdaba", "Cowboy", and "Only God Knows Why". In 2000, he released The History of Rock which was a compilation of remixed and remastered versions of songs from his previous albums as well as the hit single, "American Bad Ass". In 2001, he released the follow up, Cocky.

After a slow start, his country-flavored hit "Picture" with Sheryl Crow resurrected the album and it went gold as a single and pushed the album's sales to more than 5 million. It was followed by 2003's self-titled release, which failed to chart a major hit. In 2006 he released Live Trucker, a live album. In 2007 Kid Rock released Rock n Roll Jesus, which produced a hit in "All Summer Long". It was his first worldwide smash hit, charting #1 in eight countries across Europe and Australia. Rock N Roll Jesus would go on to sell 5 million albums worldwide including being certified triple platinum in the US. He released Born Free on November 16, 2010.

Robert Ritchie was born on January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan to William "Bill" Ritchie, a car dealer, and Susan Ritchie. His family owned a six-acre orchard and Ritchie regularly helped pick apples and cared for the family's horses. He has three siblings: two are older, brother William "Billy" Ritchie and sister Carol Ritchie; and one is younger, sister Jill Ritchie who is an actress. Ritchie found small-town life to be dull; he became interested in rap music, learning how to breakdance and participating in talent shows in the Detroit area. At age eleven he joined a breakdance crew called the Furious Funkers, teaching himself how to work a cheap belt-driven turntable. In high school, Ritchie DJed at parties for beer. He eventually joined Bo Wisdom of Groove Time Productions, in Mt. Clemens, Michigan to perform basement parties for thirty dollars a night. It was then that he was given his stage name; club goers dubbed him "Kid Stone" after they had enjoyed watching "that white kid rock."

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